Way of the Samurai

This is a pretty cool show from a wider BBC series on martial arts from the 80s. Divided into a four-part youtube playlist, I give you the story of a man following the way of the warrior (武士道). In part three, we get to see the sword master casting "spells" by writing mantras. Fascinating stuff.
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So I got the iPhone. The deed is done, and I am locked in for a three year contract because of my student discount* (I can always buy my way out, but...). I'm pretty happy, but am weary of hidden costs popping up. We will see. And I will see if a playlist can be viewed like a normal video on an iPhone shortly, when I get on the train to head to another Danny Choo blogger mingle party thing tonight.
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*If you too go to a language school you can get a 学割 just like me!

Sento-kun waits

As Deas reported, Sento-kun has been replaced by something much cuter.


But Sento-kun waits. (I drew this)(click to zoom to full creepy glory). Sento is patient and happy, and he can wait a long time.
You may enjoy my vid of the Nara deer, while we're touching on that place. Also a Deas link, cometathinkofit.

Speaking of creepy-cute hulks check out kitty-curling (a small preview doesn't do this one justice). At the suggestion of an IM friend it was made. The wii fit boxing actually does seem to have made me stronger; I've gained a couple kilos of muscle and can lift my dumbells cats with much more ease.

Average salaries in Japan part II

Last post I laid out some salaries that I found in a book at the local family mart. It's now updated a bit (the only one I was really off on was the cop; holy crap they are really rich!). I also picked up these salaries today:

Doctor: 1,100 man. Bit lower than an American doctor I think.
Professor: 1,130 man.
taxi driver: 300 man.
manga-ka: 240 man. Another secret dream job disappoints.
writer: 330 man. Yet another secret dream job.

The book may be enjoyable to read; I found the Japanese was about right for my level. Each entry seems to be, "you may think it's easy to be x, but actually..." It was also fairly cheap, but I was more interested in the scary stories collection to its right (-_^)

Average salaries in Japan

Updated corrections in bold!
As a JET, I make 3,600,000 yen before taxes (360 man in the local lingo).
Today I read a book in a conbini that layed out the average salary of many types of jobs. Let's compare (I tried to memorize the figures as best I could so I may be off by a bit, but as you can see I can hardly afford to be buying books on my salary).

Average teacher pay (junior high): 740 man. And they get bonuses. And they live with their parents, so life is practically free. Downside: No free time and you are basically a replacement parent.
Average cop: Something like 780 man I think it was. Not bad for bike wranglers.
Average talento: A mere 280 man. Crap. That is my secret dream job. And they work so hard it seems!
Average hostess: 450 man. Does it make up for the liver damage?
Average stripper: 470 man. Probably not worth the extra 20 man a year to go from entertaining guys as a hostess to entertaining guys. And I imagine you get stuck with a Nigerian boyfriend that always borrows your money. I'm just saying there were a lot of Nigerians working for the strip clubs in Roppongi; there's gotta be a lot of hardworking Nigerians with real jobs outside of that area.
Director: 280 man. No wonder Takashi Miike makes so many films.
Farmer: 420 man. Probably not enough, seeing as I have never met a farmer without a family.
Translator: 360 man. Crap, that is my not-secret dream job.
Ramen restauranteur: 450 man.
Soba restauranteur: 800 man. Who knew the kings of the noodle industry were soba dudes?
Public servant: 700 man. Ironically, one of the easiest jobs in town is the highest paying. You have to pass a test to get in though, and maybe know some people who know some people.

Tomorrow I promise to go out and double check the numbers and maybe add a couple more. Check completed; but I missed the pages on hostesses and strippers on the second go around; I was furtively scribbling notes and worrying about how it looked to the store people, so I kinda flipped through fast.

Japan's constant struggle to make me sick

The country is a living entity with the goal of getting me somehow, be it tsunami, germ-riddled children with cute faces, or dreaded sakura petal attacks.
But really, I never really had allergies before I came here. Then my nose discovered the joy of the Japanese cedar.
I thought this year I was being ignored by this malevolent entity for once, but the allergies finally came. I took a couple Benadryl. Then the next day I took a couple more. Now that stuff has built up in my system and I am effectively drugged. In every sense of the word. I am forgetful. I sleepy. I am forgetful. And making bad judgements and reasonings. I even thought Japan was out to get me a few minutes ago.
I would write more but I am tired, and I forgot what this post was in the beginning. I am too tired to raise my eyes up to see. Gee that keyboard looks soft.

My Japan Musical!

We call it a

The children have heads crowned with leaves. I am told that they are gods. They look more of Greek or Roman than of Japanese deity ilk to me.

"The fire is sacred; a symbol of friendship and unity" says the eager college student.
"What do they call this kind of fire?" I ask.
"They call it... a campfire."
"Oh." I think back to earlier when a teacher laughed at me for saying that if I went camping with even a couple friends, we would have a fire. Campfire: mundane katakana word, bigger ceremonial implications. The fire week cook our food on is much smaller, separate, and surrounded by cement.
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This article helped me understand ritual in everyday Japanese life a little bit better. It also helped me understand why I have to come to an empty teachers room every day during the summer.
I was going to write about how the Japanese are obsessed with harmony, but that will do for now, pig, that'll do.

算額

I have been curious lately about what old math calculations looked like in Japanese, before Arabic numerals were adopted. I am still rather unsure, but I did rediscover something I haven't thought about for years (I have random memories of researching for an art and math paper in junior college, and seeing this in the electronic periodical records): Sangaku.
Shrines have little evocative wooden tablets; usually prayers, wishes, and horses adorn them. But Sangaku were euclidean-geometry puzzles painted onto such tablets, and set out for those merry 参る者* to solve.
Most of them seem to involve circles. But anyway, here are some examples, and here is a concise history with good insights into the cultural background.
Also, this is at a shrine in Fukuoka; I want to find it, but it is from 1984(?) with Arabic numerals.


*:totally just made up a term for shrine-goer.

Top Ten Films for Japanese Culture

I made a list of what I thought are good films for experiencing Japanese culture. And they are entertaining. But what do you think? What would you choose?
Suicide Club
Taste of Tea
Swing Girls
Kamakazi Girls
Kikujiro
Tanpopo
Battle Royal
Izu
Dead or Alive 2
Gozu

I thought about Ringu as well, but the Japanese don't seem very connected to their horror traditions in every day life.

Japan makes you an ego-maniac

Why?

Because you are always talking about yourself, whether you want to or not. Half the words in my electronic dictionary's save file are words I want to use to elucidate on myself. Today, I realized I want to look up "self-styled" to describe my cooking. Then I realized I had a blog entry on my hands.

Because you are a celebrity. Just for being the only non-Asian in town. It doesn't help matters when you do actually appear on tv.

Because they think everything you do and say is cool.

Because they give you gifts for no reason.

Because they all murmur about you wherever you go.

Because you are told you are good at everything.

Because everyone points out how big your body is.

Because they often suggest I marry their daughters.
So... when I visit America, please forgive me if I seem like I think I am strangely interesting. Over here, I am strangely interesting.
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Anyhoo, ready for some bad Japanese? This month's subject is Onsens.
僕は何回も温泉にいたことがある。僕の意見で温泉がちょっとつまらない。なぜならば温泉がまるで大きなお風呂みたい。その上、値段が高いなあ。ですが、時々楽しい感じや文化ことを経験することができる。温泉が日本の文化の典型的な例ということは否定できん。しかし僕の古里にも温泉が多い。もちろん、日本の温泉文化とワイオミングのはかなり違う。

You are a horrible mother.

I mean seriously, you never made anything like this for your kid's lunch. Did you? Case closed, lazy mother. You can see more here. [via]
(note, this is not addressed to my mum, saint that she is; it's address to you)

Never posted this, right?

So I thought I would. Me in a kimono that kind of fits.
edit: Did you know that the sleeves act as deep pockets? I think I can see my iPod peeking out.

Different ways of thinking of the same thing

I asked my students, via worksheet, what they thought the biggest problem facing Japan is. A lot of them said bullying is the biggest one. I personally thought it was the suicide that results from the shame of bullying and getting caught/being bullied, and that Japanese people really need to toughen up and stop being so soft on themselves and their kids. It was just kind of interesting to me how we are two sides of the same coin on this issue. I also think its interesting that there is so much bullying over here when Americans are supposedly more violent. I really do think pride is a useful thing that can protect us; allow us to fight back.
But we can all agree junior high is hell.

The algorithm takes over the world slowly but surely

When I wrote that last post about the algorithm march, I didn't think anybody would dig it as much as I do. But your comments were suprisingly exuberant*. And, now I present you with 967 (!) prisoners (?!) doing the march.
I would be remise if I didn't mention a similar algorithm is out there.
Also, can I turn anyone on to Paranoia Agent? Never bothered with the English dub, but the original is great fun.

*:I just realized what good translation for genki exuberant is.

What I watch every day before work

I watch kids shows of course. The only other option is boring talking head tabloid programs with occasional appearances by David Spector.
I love this one. I need to make an English version now that I am teaching preschool regula.

Starwars recreated

Traditional Japanese theater has brought us some interesting innovations in guy-wearing-a-black-suit (Kuroko (黒子) if you wanna get technical) special effects. This adaptation of kuroko skills caught my eye.
Real blogging soon.

Most boring post ever.

I get nostalgic about math. Dunno why, I guess it was like a game back when I was a kid. A game they bored me to tears with by too much repition, but still. I kinda think it would be fun to do algebra sometimes. Anyways, I saw a Japanese teacher showing a student how to find square roots by hand. I was intrigued, cause we don't even bother with that in the U.S. (use the almighty calculator, student!). Soon, I had figured out how to do square roots using the Japanese method. It's simpler than I ever suspected.

Bondage Bodhisattva

In the Kutsushika ward of Tokyo, there lies an old temple by the name of Nanzouin. It has a Jizou, which are the bodhisattvas that look after children in the afterlife. If you live in Japan, you have probably seen many of them (they are the statues with red bibs). But the Jizou at this particular temple is a little different. He spends the year wrapped in hemp, and only gets unwrapped for the new year each January, only to be put right back into those ropes soon after. And if you miss it, you never know what he looks like. Thankfully, we have the internet to help us.

Now my Japanese ain't the best, so I get a little confused when I try to figure out why they do this to the poor guy. Edit:Turns out such a statue very indirectly helped catch a gang of thieves whilst bound, and now people make a wish by binding him some more. But anyways, Daily Portal Z has some pretty pictures (all the text is in Japanese, so hit "つぎへ ＞" at the bottom of each page in the article to navigate; if you can read Japanese, you will be amused by the witty text that DPZ always provides).

My first interview with an international movie star

We've got an exclusive! Remember when I did the send up of The Drifting Classroom via a video entry? Well, I managed to get ahold of one of the stars of said movie. This is a rare opportunity to get into the head of a childstar, in Japan, in the 80s, in a movie based on a horror manga.
I have no idea what is going on with the yellow stuff in the picture, but the grandfather of Japanese horror manga is standing with the cast in this pic.

Our interviewee is Arthur Johnson, who you may recall as the kid that was holding the racially-questionable piggy bank. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask how he felt about that, but I still got plenty of questions in. Without further ado:

1: How did you get involved in the movie? What was the casting process like?
I was walking home from school. I noticed I lost my book bag. So as I was looking for it. A car pulled up along side of me with a Japanese casting crew inside of it. Asked me if I wanted to be in a movie. Of course I thought they were pulling my leg. So I asked my mom. She said go for it because that was a 1 in a million chance. If they were telling the truth. Acting never crossed my mind at the time. Anyways, all the kids they had gathered up. They had us meet at a specific location on base. They brought a bus. Picked all of us up and drove us to Tokyo. Once we arrived there, they (casting crew) introduced us to the writer, director, and producer. Then we sat around a table and did some cold reading. We repeated that process on them picking us up. Around 4 times. After the last cold reading session. They brought us home and said that they would call whoever made it. But the phone call will be on the first day of the school yr in the morning. So if you got that phone call. You was not going to school. Well, I didn't receive a phone call that morning. So I went to school with my head held low. Thinking I was a failure. Because I knew the kids that didn't show up for school that day. Got chosen over me. Then fate intervened. They called me late that evening. Saying they made a mistake and needed me after all. The next thing you know. I'm working everyday. Missing all kinds of school. Teachers were split on the issue of us doing the movie. Some allowed us to do homework on the road. Others just flat out failed us. But I was making to much money to worry about that at the time. Eventually it all worked out for the best.
All though the casting process was pretty much a lot of cold reading sessions. I thought I should explain the whole story because I thought it was weird how I got chosen.

2: Did you live in Kobe at the time, and go to an international school like your character? If so, how was it? Did you learn to speak Japanese? Could the Japanese kids in the cast really speak English in turn, or did they have their English lines memorized by rote?
I lived at Yokota Air Force base in Japan for 10yrs. From 1980-90. I never lived in Kobe. One thing I regret. Is that I never learned the language there. I just knew the basics to get by. The majority of the Japanese cast could not speak English. They had English coaches. But on set, they spoke enough English, well enough for us to understand.

This interview is continued after the jump.

3: Viewing Japanese films from the 80's makes me oddly (cause I didn't live there) nostalgic. Can you describe how Japan has changed since then, especially from a foreigner's point of view?
Japan will always be nostalgic. They thrive on the past. Especially in the wardrobe department. From what I know and heard. Its still pretty much the same over there. With the exception of a few more high rises and there technology is still light yrs ahead of the U.S.

4: Is there a DVD version of the movie, or special releases?
There are no special releases that I know of. But I do have the DVD version. I found a collector on line that had a version for me. I jumped on that quick.

5: Are there deleted scenes out there somewhere, especially ones that explain plot holes? Several characters seem to disappear without anyone noticing or explanations given. And what happened to the guy that went crazy? I don't seem to recall him dying, but merely being subdued. I could go on, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the plot and editing.
The movie came across as a sci fi with a comedy twist. I thought it was written pretty well. The movie was suppose to be over 2 hrs long originally. But they took out a huge chunk of the script because of the budget. That's what probably let to some of the holes.
The movie was based off a comic book. Which was a success in Japan. So it was easy to convert it to film. As far as the teachers mysteriously disappearing. Some of them went to find help. Not knowing what was out there in the sand dunes. And were attacked by the huge roaches. Some got scared and just left. The teachers that chose to stay with us. Died during battle. After that crazy guy was defeated he went crazy and left. He pretty much was outnumbered. As quick as the teachers were vanishing. You had to assume the worst for them. Regardless whether you saw them killed or not. The movie was based on how kids came together through adversity and survived off of what we had. Meaning little food and no weapons. Then we had to develop a plan to defeat the creatures. The teachers were just a minute part of the equation.
I thought the editing was pretty good. People have to realize. That movie was made in 1987. Graphics back then weren't to sophisticated. We didn't have a green screen and all that computer animation. Everything was built by hand. We shot 90% of that movie in huge hangers. When we went to the premiere. The audience got a kick out of it. That right there alone, let me know the whole crew did a great job.

6: What was the atmosphere on the set like?
The atmosphere on set was very, very sandy. Everyday I went to work. I got a huge dose of this thick slimy gel and sand thrown on me. I didn't think anybody can pack that much sand into them huge hangers. The only time the atmosphere was clean. Was when we shot the school scene before the storm hit. We actually shot that at a real private school. That was pretty much the only time we didn't have to shower every 20 min.

7: Were the majority of the cast professional actors? Do you know what the acting biz is like for a foreigner in Japan?
The entire Japanese cast and the teachers were professional. Me and the rest of the American kids were not professional. We were just normal kids plucked from a crowd. The funny think is. After that movie. Even all the autograph signings, press conferences. I still had no intentions on becoming an actor.
Back then, when I was living in Japan. Acting came easy for foreigners. Especially commercials. You really didn't need an agent or any type of experience. You could get noticed by just walking down the street. Someone will notice your face. Next thing you know. Your in a commercial.

8: Did you do any more films, Japanese or otherwise?
After the Drifting Classroom. I didn't do no more films there. I had to focus on graduating. I almost didn't graduate. I missed a lot of school my sophomore yr. Although I did do some commercials and shows. It was no big deal to us back then because those little side jobs came easy. We did a show, got paid and didn't think nothing of it.

9: What is your favorite Japanese horror film?
I would have to say all the Godzilla films. I loved watching them.

10: Have you read the original manga upon which the film was based? How good of an adaptation do you think the film is?
[unanswered]

11: Have you seen the recently made drama TV series that was based off of the same manga? If so, do you have thoughts on it?
No, I haven't seen the recently made drama t.v. series. I would love to check it out.

12: Anything you have a burning desire to let people know about this film or your experience?
I tell you one thing. I'm never going to forget that experience. I really enjoyed working with Nobuhiko Obayachi (director). We had Mc Donalds as one of our sponsors. We literally ate free Mc Donalds every day for almost 4 mos. I'm talking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were catered to everyday. I'm talking star treatment. Everywhere I went in Japan, people recognized me. At my school. I was like a celebrity. I think I was one of the first ones from my class to buy a car with my own money, and I was a sophomore.
Another thing I learned. That when I look back in hindsight. I realized that I was destined to become an actor. I look at as a preparation period for the future.
Once I actually pursued acting as a profession. That whole process on establishing myself as an actor was so much easier than I anticipated.
Now I'm writing, producing, and co directing my own comedy plays. I'm involved with a production company called No Whip Productions.
In 2007, I will emerge again. lol
Ill send you some of my work. We had to make some minor corrections on our site.

13: Are you still in contact with the rest of the cast? Looking at your guys' comments on IMDB, it seems you really enjoyed working together.
I'm still in contact with some of the cast. We got along really well. They were like my second family.

14: Do you know what the reaction was to a Japanese movie almost completely in English dialogue? Did it fare okay at the box offices? Did it even officially come to America (I saw it here in Japan at the video store)?
At the time. Drifting Classroom debuted. We were paired up with "Goonies" and a few other films. I remember "Goonies" barely beat us out in Japan. Although our movie never made it to the states. I forgot the reason. It did pretty good at the box office. Especially when you consider the anticipation because of the comic book.

Arthur, all growed up and lookin' tough.

Update: Arthur told me the following in an email:

Good job Clay. Although your youtube segment about the movie. Had me on the ground laughing. I'm the jerry curl kid hah... and then at the end. You said that I managed to save my curl with that controversial piggy bank. LMAO

Couple of holes in your commentary though. That little boy wasnt sho's brother. Just some little boy that followed him. lol That bank. I knew it was going to be a controversial piece. Even now. I had a discussion with my folks and told them what I was using. It all boiled down to. Japan is not a racist country. They just didnt know better. They figured since I was black and the bank was black. There shouldnt be nothing to it. Or they probably didnt know the full history behind that character. I know one thing. They sure was not trying to be derogatory with whatever message people were perceiving it to be. Plus I was making to much money to tell them what to do. lol

Oh yah. The preppy kid with the soccer ball. He never was a bad guy. He just formed his own alliance. You see at the end he sacrificed his life to save ours.

In that school. We sung, dance, and played instruments. That's why we knew all them routines. Everybody was gleeful....

1 more thing. The kid that mentioned time wharp. He was one of those gifted students. Thats why he knew alot of stuff when it came down to science and physics. lol

I'm a part of the lie

At the request of a friend, I have forged two letters from Santa, complete with pictures and exhorations to be good. I even suggested leaving candy and coals in shoes as a pre-Christmas reminder (remember that tradition?). I feel so guilty yet so amused. This must be what parenting is all about.